Christian Spiritual Formation Paradigm

Formative Activities in the Local Church

The relative sizes of the balloons show the priorities and emphases placed on some formative activities in the local church.

What are the formative activities and their priorities in your church?

Chocolate and Cognitive Function

Chocolate Consumption, Cognitive Function, and Nobel Laureates

N Engl J Med 2012; 367:1562-1564October 18, 2012

 

 

This is the sort of research I like

 

The article is available at: 

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMon1211064?query=TOC

 

 

Dietary flavonoids are abundant in plant-based foods including cocoa and chocolate. They have been shown to improve cognitive function, including a reduction in the risk of dementia, better performance on some cognitive tests, and improved cognitive function in elderly patients.

 

This study correlated national chocolate consumption with the number of Nobel Laureates each country has produced per 10 million of population.

 

The results speak for themselves

 

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Chocolate consumption enhances cognitive function, and good cognitive function must help in winning the Nobel Prize. Consumption closely correlates with the number of Nobel laureates in each country.

 

It remains to be determined whether the consumption of chocolate is the underlying mechanism for the observed association with improved cognitive function and Nobel prize prospects, but in the meantime I’m taking no chances.

HT: Mike South

Prayer for Serenity

Books on Lectio Divina

Here are some of my recommendations on books on lectio divina.

Wilhoit C. James and Evan B. Howard. 2012. Discovering Lectio Divina: Bringing Scripture into ordinary life. Downers Grove,IL: Intervaristy Press

This is my personal favourite from two great scholars on Christian education and Christian spirituality.

Casey. Michael, 1996. Sacred Reading: The ancient art of lectio divina. Liguori, MO: Liguori/Triumph

An indepth study of lectio divina and includes patristics lectio and their spirituality.

Pennington, M. Basil, 1998. Lectio Divina: Renewing the ancient practice of praying the Scriptures. New York, NY: The Crossroad Publishing Company.

A good introduction to lectio divina. Pennington is one of the few who reintroduced modern Christians to this ancient practice.

Guigo II, Trans Colledge, Edmund and James Walsh.1979. Ladder of the Monks and Twelve Meditations.Kalamazoo. MI: Cistercian Publications.

The Ladder of the Monks is about lectio divina. Guigo II is a twelve century monk who taught lectio divina. I was introduced to him and to lectio divina by James Houston, emeritus professor of spiritual theology, Regent College, Vancounver in one of his courses in Singapore.

Peterson, Eugene H.2006.  Eat this book: A conversion in the art of spiritual reading. Grand Rapids. MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p.90-117.

A good chapter on lectio divina. In fact the whole book is worth reading. In actual fact the whole series of conversation by Peterson is worth reading (Christ plays in ten thousand places, Tell it slant, The Jesus Way and Practice resurrection). The series is a definitive summation of his life work on spiritual theology .

Peace, Richard.1998. Contemplative Bible Reading: Experiencing God through Scripture. Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress.

a good workbook for those who are not familiar with lectio divina but will like to try it.

I will appreciate any contribution from readers on other books on lectio divina that should be included on this list.
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Books about the Jesus Prayer

 A Monk of the Eastern Church. 1987. The Jesus Prayer. Crestwood, NY: St Valdimir's Press.

1978. Trans. Helen Bacovcin. The Way of a Pilgrim &  the Pilgrim Continues his Way. New York, NY: Image Books

Metropolitan Anthony. 1966. Living Prayer. Springfield, IL: Templegate Publishers, p. 84-88

Chumley, Norris J. 2011. Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer. New York, NY: HarperCollins

Trans. E.Kadloubovsky and G.E.H.Palmer. 1951. Writings from the Philokalia on the prayer of the heart. London: Faber and Faber Limited.

Elder Paisios. 2007. Spiritual counsel volume one: With pain and love for contemporary man. Thessalonika, Greece: Holy Monastery, p. 196-202.

Scorgie, Glen G., Simon Chan, Gordon T. Smith and James D. Smith III, eds. 2011. Dictionary of Christian Spirituality. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, p.541

Talbot, John Michael. 2005. The way of the Mystics: Ancient wisdom for experiencing God today. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, p. 185-102